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A fake outpost? Really?
Somewhere lost in the middle of the Cobalts Plains can be found, for those who knows where to look, a little and very well hidden Decepticon's outpost. It's been secretly built by Soundwave over the last weeks and the tape commander is actually sitting in front of the main console of the outpost, monitoring many incoming data and hoping the Decepticon in charge of his protection are well hidden. After all he would not like to be spotted by an autobot patrol because they ignore everything about this outpost...right? Jazz is approaching the Cobalt Plains while keeping a low profile. Thanks to a quick stop for a new non-reflective grey paintjob. The Autobot commander moves silently and slowly enough. This report about an outpost in the Cobalt Plain was doubtful but...I mean, who builds something hidden in the middle of a near empty field. Of course the local field disrupts instrumentation which means the place is probably hard-wired in some fashion. He stops every now and then to scan the field for movement or anything non-terrain-like. iPod is normally not the most adept Autobot when stealth is required, having little skill in slipping from shadow to shadow. however he's lucky enough to be able to ride along when such skills are required and who better to join than Jazz. As such Decibel is mag-locked to the currently larger Autobot offering his sensors to help scan the area. Mecha Wolf is as hidden as he is able, flattened to the ground and tucked behind... well wait, it's a giant plain, not a lot of places to hide! Lifting his nose to the air, he takes in the surrounding scents, picks up on something, and stalks in a seemingly random direction. Bumblebee sneaks along with Jazz, a safe distance away from him so that if either one of them (more likely Bumblebee) should trip over something the other's position won't be given away. He brings up a pair of macrobinoculars and peers through them at the site, signalling to Jazz by hand gestures that it looks quiet. Among the Decepticons, Artifice is fairly ashamed to admit that he is probably not the most skilled at covert ops. He does benefit from a drab color scheme; and it's this that is his lone hope, in his opinion, for performing well on this mission. He's currently standing to Soundwave's left, looking over the consoles as if he may eventually have something to add about whatever they are displaying. He asks, "What's big scheme, here? What're we snooping for, if I can ask?" Soundwave reaches for a console on his right and type something. A small image appears on a monitor showing all the Decepticons in the area. He opens a short range frequency and transmit is orders, "Keep a low profile. You are here in case we're detected but the Autobots must not learn about this installation." Then he reports his attention on the screen in front of him. He replies to Artifice without looking back at him, "Intelligence gathering." For what purpose? He doesn't tell. Soundwave likes to keep his project secret...especially from those he doesn't trust. (read anyone) Mecha Wolf 's optics flash, and he breaks into a gallop, straight for Jazz! ...Or what he perceives to be where Jazz is hiding. Actually, he's not sure of which mech it might be; be'wheeled mechs all smell alike. So much for a low profile. <> he snarls through the frequency. This is where Bumblebee is glad that he was travelling some distance away from Jazz, although it's not for the reason he had expected. While Weirdwolf is hunting down Jazz, Bumblebee outflanks Weirdwolf in turn, firing his little laser pistol at the Decepticon from behind! "Look out, Jazz! He's coming right for you!" Toyota Wrecker Rig is parked in some cover on Cybertron, so nothing unusual there no sir, you'll probably find an abandoned shopping trolley if you searched long enough. Hoist is however out here for a reason, not a stealthy guy in the least he is however a capable scout and can keep an eye on things from a distance, in this case a long distance. However the magnetic field of the cobalt plain is causing more than a little interference, he will probably have to work on trying to compensate for that once he gets some free time. Jazz hears Bumblebee's warning and rolls out of the way in-case there is a pounce attack coming. "whoa! Thanks Bee!" Upon rolling he keeps his hand on the mp3 player and whispers "Not yet." (No attack as he is caught off-guard). iPod remains in place thanks to the wonders on mag-locks, despite Jazz doing his roll. A faint almost inaudible reply is sent to Jazz, "Just keep us safe and I'll be happy to stay as is boss." Mecha Wolf gets struck by ...not bees, alas. The laser boring a sizable hole in his shoulder. It makes him tumble and slide over where Jazz had been perching, unfortunately missing his target. Weirdwolf whirls and sets his sights upon Bumblebee, lunging towards him with snapping jaws. Though he doesn't attack. "What brings you out here, little Bee? Heh heh... As far as the optic can see, nothing but plains. Boring plains." Artifice shrugs. "Vague," he says, "but, hey - I can work with it." He IS an analyst. Of course, it helps to have some idea of exactly what intelligence they're supposed to be gathering. He watches the monitor as Bumblee appears from nowhere to attack Weirdwolf. "Weirdwolf's been compromised. You want me to get out there and back him up?" An alarm goes off on Soundwave's left. The tape commander doesn't show any emotion as he checks his screen, then, again without looking back at him, he orders Artifice, "Go out there and find out if Weirdwolf is right. Perhaps the Autobots didn't spot the outpost yet." For the moment, he remains in his seat, optics locked on the screen but diverting part of his attention towards the outside scanner. Bumblebee bounces on his toes, watching Weirdwolf cautiously as he stays nimble and prepares to strike him when an opening presents itself. "I suppose you might say we suspect these plains are more than meet the eye," Bumblebee replies brightly. "You come here often, Big'N'Ugly?" Toyota Wrecker Rig picks up tone the sudden energy flare of weapons fire in the distance, perhaps a booby trap but given the skills of the other Autobots more likely weapons fire. Hoist however doesn't make a move to go intercept, thanks to the interference for all he knows it could just be the swift stealthy removal of a sentry, no he'll wait until a call for help goes out. Jazz grabs his rifle and charges past Weirdwold hoping to see where the beast came from. "Distract him for a few. Soon as I get coordinates we can bail." Mecha Wolf continues stalking towards Bumblebee, perhaps trying to drive him back towards the direction the Autobot pressumably came from. He's oblivious he's being scanned, and finally springs forward to try and shove Bumblebee off his bee-feet. Jazz goes unnoticed! Soundwave evaluates the Autobots' positions on a 3d holographic map. His calculations reveals thata there is 80,56% chance that they didn't find the Outpost yet. If Weirdwolf and Artifice can do their job, that percentage should increase. Judging that revealing his presence at this point would not be wise, he decides to remain within the outpost, well out of sight. If the worst was to happen, if the Autobots breach their defenses, he would have to deal with them personally. So ordered, at last, by Soundwave, Artifice hurries down the tunnel to the hidden egress and transforms. He takes to the sky with a spin and bears down on Weirdwolf and Bee. He hangs back a bit, sweeping his scanners over the battlefield. "Two on one," he says, "watch your back, Weirdwold." Jazz spots the jet coming up from seemingly nowhere. "Well well isn't that interesting." Jazz keeps a low profile and adjusts his course to go check Artifice's launch point. (No attack as to not draw too much attention). Toyota Wrecker Rig continues to sit and watch as a flier enters the scene, most likely a patrol of some sort especialy seeing as there has be no other weapons fire, the sentry must have been neutralised instantly by the attack allowing no time to raise the alarm. Hoist's mind wanders a little as he thinks ahead to the jobs he needs to get done once this more frontline mission is completed. Bumblebee hops nimbly out of the way and sticks his round yellow foot out, trying to get Weirdwolf to trip over it. "Keep the giant monster busy, roger wilco!" he calls back to Jazz, cupping his hand by his mouth. "Weirdwold!?" Weirdwolf growls up at the Seeker, "My name, that is not!" Again, he spends more time screaming up at the sky than focusing on the enemy. It's a wonder he doesn't trip, but does yelp in surprise. In an abrupt motion, he dives for Bee and stretches his jaws to clamp around the kid-friendly Autobot's arm. "Nothing to see here! Back to the beehive with you! HEH!" <> <> Artifice finally gets within range of the battlefield and transforms to hover, looking over the plain for signs of Jazz. He has a sneaking suspicion that the Autobot might be heading back toward his point of exit from the base. He turns in that direction, but, before he does, he scans Bumblebee to try and give Weirdwolf a tactical advantage. Now...here's hoping he can use it effectively. From within the outpost, Soundwave shakes his head. His troops are totally inefficient...as expected. Everything is going according to his plan so far and the time as come for him to reveal himself. He rises from his seat and walk through the door, making sure to be as sneaky as possible, not that he could compete with Bumblebee or Jazz in that department so anyone looking towards the outpost would easily notice him. Bumblebee rocks back on his heels and engages the wheels thereon, skating away from Weirdwolf's snapping jaws just in time to stay free of the beast. "What big teeth you have, Grandmother Weirdwolf!" He spots that jet banking towards Jazz and sends Jazz a heads-up accordingly. <> Jazz keeps running and spots Soundwave's silhouette in the distance. <> The Autobot pulls out his rifle without breaking stride. He leaps forward twisting 360 squeezing off as his rifle crosses the sky. He lands in a crouch ready to face either foe. Toyota Wrecker Rig can make out the various cybertronian signals apparently dancing into and around each, but at this distance all that could mean is that they're on the hide and seek part trying to out manoeuvre the opponant and not necessarily combat. Then a photon blast splits the sky, either a Decpeticon signal or Jazz trying to take somone out, either way it signals that the stealth portion of the mission has just finished. Risking detection he radios tot he other bots, <> Mecha Wolf roars in frustration, slippery Bee is slippery! The Headmaster is about to just head after Jazz instead, but he's fed some combat data, and it would be a damn shame to waste it. So he turns back to Bumblebee, crouches, and leaps into the air, hoping to drag some claws over the mech's FACE. Artifice doesn't see Jazz until a fraction of a fraction of a nanosecond before the Autobot hipster takes a shot at him. He strafes to the right, barely managing to evade; the shot sears some caramel-colored paint off of his wing edg, evoking a sneer. "Ha," he gloats, "You again! We have a score to settle, Autobot. And I'm not overcharged this time! BURN!" He advances toward Jazz and raises his left arm to fire his sun ray. Soundwave also spots Jazz, there is very few things that can evade his highly accurate senses. He quickly evaluates his options and finally decides for a appropriate response. He suddenly stands straight in face of the autobot James Bond. He reaches for his shoulder, pressing a button and sending a burst of sonics right all around the area...suck to be you if you're around. <> Bumblebee sends back, just barely keeping ahead of Weirdwolf as he skirts around a meteor crater, trying to make the pursuing Weirdwolf fall in. <> Jazz leaps off to the side and rolls avoiding Artifice's blast. He sees Soundwave approaching and firing off his sonic burst. Jazz crawls next to a rock to keep a low profile while the soundwaves wreck havoc on the Decepticons. "Nice shot Blaster!" He raises and feigns surprise "Oh...It's you." He looks at the two Decepticons who got hit. "Did we come at a bad time? Because if you want to discipline them some more we can back off you know." He raises his gun at Soundwave and barely looking elsewhere aims it at Artifice squeezing off a shot. Toyota Wrecker Rig picks up the radio message and slams into reverse carefully backing out of his hiding place to avoid anuy unnecessary stressing of his componants and then kicks it into top gear, which unfortunately isn't all that fast. <> Hoist sounds as jovial as ever even as he rushes to help his friends. Mecha Wolf can't catch this damned yellow volkswagen! In a fit of rage, he tosses his head against the alloy ground and angrily gnaws at it. Suddenly, a blast of sonic waves wrack his frame. He whimpers and flattens his pointed audials, covering them with his paws as he rolls around on the ground, sensors overwhelmed. "YIE-YIE-YIE!" Blinded, though still with his sense of smell, he scrambles up to take off after Bumblebee... and promptly tumbles into a crater. "NRGGHH!" Soundwave doesn't waste anytime wondering how he could have missed the Autobots... rare occurences of such events happen once in a while. As for hitting the other Decepticons?... They are expendable! But Jazz dared to call him Blaster... that cheap ripoff... that wannabe... this can't go unpunished. The tape commander does some adjustments to his internal speakers before pressing once again the infamous button on his shoulder. This times, the sonics are focused right towards Jazz, sparing everyone else around. Unicron's beard! Artifie is thwarted in his continued attack on Jazz by an attack from his comrade! He can't say he's surprised...he's had his doubts about that mech for a long time. He drops to the ground, stumbling about with his arms waving. This leaves him wide open for an attack, and, of course, Jazz doesn't hesitate to exploit. Arti's blasted good and sent rolling. He levers himself to his feet, blind, and tries to boost away on his antigravs until his optics clear again. Jazz cartwheels out of the way as the focused sonic attack tears up the ground where the spy was standing seconds ago. "I probably should not tell you this but. Next time you guys want to keep something secret....Don't talk about it in front of us. That's dumb, not Starscream dumb I am talking waaaayy dumb." He adjusts his aim at the ground-based Decepticon. "Let's dance bozo." and fires. Bumblebee crouches down and zips towards Soundwave, coasting down the slope of the plain towards the enemy spymaster. "You'd think he'd know better than to have a glass chest after all this time," Bumblebee points out helpfully to Jazz. Toyota Wrecker Rig drives at top speed to the newly rejuvenated battlefield, unfortunately top speed just doesn't cut it for the somewhat slower than average Autobot but does get him closer. Quickly he transforms and speeds up slightly thanks to the length of his strides, unable to directly assist Bumblebee he does however spot the one flier and raising his right arm takes a shot. Soundwave doesn't show any sign of emotion but come on...even him must be pissed by now! Jazz shoots him back but the energy beam barely dents his armor... good thing he doesn't know about his glass chest weakness! However, the battle isn't going well for the Decepticons, Soundwave doesn't need to evaluate many parameters to come to that conclusion, the most dangerous target must be disabled and this is Jazz. Choosing a different weapon, the tape commander raises his rifle and fires a powerful...sonic blast towards Jazz. Mecha Wolf manages to claw his way out of the crater, just in time to spot Hoist firing upon Artifice. Hmm. He looks slow! Time to pick off the weakling from the heard. With a lupine sneer, he bolts after Hoist and leaps to rake claws across his backside. Artifice only manages to avoid Hoist's attack by stepping in a hole and falling over. Angered, he charges into the air on his antigravs, and bangs on the side of his head to force some function back into his optics. It's the Fonzi method. He catches sight of a blurry Hoist approaching, and raises his right arm to fire his lightning cannon. "More meddling! You Autobots should learn to leave well enough alone!" Jazz is rocked by the Concussive blast which sends him on his back. "Nice comeback but I am afraid you are in trouble for my comrade relayed me your weakness. You are boring!" The shoulder-mounted rocket launcher pops into place "Burn." and fires off an incendiary missile at the DCI Commander. If Hoist could read Weirdwolf's mind about being a slow one he'd more than likely agree, after all the battlefield isn't his natural environment. The leaping claw attack digs into his side and turns him sideways and out of the path of the return fire from Artifice, "Oh my i do seem to have disturbed the nest haven't i! Well i supose i'll just have to deal with it as problems arise." Spoilt for choice Hoist decides to go for Weirdwolf as keeping the ground based con on him might just buy his little buddy some time. His multitool goes through some internal changes and then opens fire again sending a double pulse of energy towards the wolf. Bumblebee winces at that one. "Ooh, bad luck, Jazz." He circles around Soundwave's back, looking for where that compartment is where he keeps his weapons (which transform into batteries in his altmode). Soundwave watches his sonic burst shattering Jazz'a armor but before he can follow up with another bast, the spy master fires a missile at him! The decepticon tape commander barely has enough time to bust its targeting mechanism with a burst of sonics. The missile goes wide and strikes the Outpost's door! Soundwave looks back at it... it's holding but all the camo paint is now gone. He turns his optics on Jazz...and says nothing. But suddenly a missile of his own is fired from his shoulder mounted device and flies right towards the Autobot! Artifice was obviously still a bit fuzzy from that audial-disrupting attack. But now he's got his sight back, and he immediately uses it to rake a scan across Hoist, analyze for weaknesses. Mecha Wolf savagely rips away at tow truck metal before being met with twin blaster lasers that tear up his chest and break a fuel line or two. He keeps at it though, and mulls through Artifice's combat data, dropping his widened jaws over Hoist's arm. If he's successful, he'll shake him like a ragdoll. Jazz crouches and leaps up in a backflip worthy of the Olympic Gymnastics team. At the apex of the flip, Jazz lines up Soundwave's chest and fires off a quick shot before landing in a loud thud kicking up a small ring of dust around him. Bumblebee springs at Soundwave and tries to climb up his back and pry his battery door open, like a horrible little monkey! Bumblebee fights kind of dirty. Hoist knows he's in trouble, firstly from not being a warrior and secondly from having to deal with two Decepticons at the same time and then Weirdwolf chomps down on his arm, the good one, with the hand! Hoist almost topples as the bite goes deep crushing down on the elbow joint and pushing through to the servos, locking his arm up. "Now be a good doggy and release me or i shall be forced to take action. Oh and as for you flyboy, don't think i have forgotten about you, it's just with so much attention you have to wait your turn." Again his weapon arm internally reconfigures and is pointed towards the one with the high ground, this time something launches from the multitool socket and speeds towards Artifice. Soundwave is blaster right on his battery compartement! How could Jazz know? The tape commander falls on his knees. This fight is taking its tool on his energy reserves and he needs a moment to reroute energy front unnecessary systems before he can retaliate. But before he can do that, Bumblebee climbs on his back and attack his battery compartement! The damages are minimal but still painful. Artifice transforms as the missile comes streaking toward him. He blows off some chaff and detonates it just off his six; the force sends him wheeling, but it's far better than suffering a direct hit. He swoops out in a wide arc and comes back around to make a pass at Hoist, wing-mounted lasers emiting the well-remembered purple lasers that punch holes in the ground as he strafes the Autobot. "GRRR!" Weirdwolf continues to clamp down on Hoist's arm, until he feels the servos jam. He releases his hold, transforms, and waits impatiently for data to feed through his frequency - it doesn't come this time. "Fraggit! Fine!" Drawing his blade, he aims for Hoist's chest and palms the hilt to jam the blade through armor. Jazz watches with a smile as Bumblebee pulls a sneaky one on Soundwave. Sure he could continue to fire at will at the uncharismatic communication officer but decides to help out Hoist who must fight off two enemies at once. He lines up the seeker and fires off a quick shot before returning his attenion to the really dangerous one. Bumblebee jumps off of Soundwave again before he gets swatted, and circles warily again, waiting for the right time and location to place his small but precise attacks. "He's reeling, I think he might be on the ropes, Jazz!" Hoist is dismayed by the fact of the seeker not going and staying gone, but he doesn't dwell on it, even as the lasers bite into his frame burning holes deep into his chassis. Weirdwolf does however release his grasp, if only to transform and try to run Hoist through with a sword, it crashes deep into his rooftop chest shattering the windscreen, "Guuhuk... that... wasn't very nice you know." With his good arm disabled Hoist dwings at Weirdwolf with his tool arm. <> Soundwave is starting to get annoyed with Bumblebee. Now that Jazz went to help the poor Hoist, the tape commander is free to turn his attention on the minibot. Losing no time to point that he's far from beaten, he launches himself towards the minispy. As soon as he gets into melee range, he throws a powerful backhand towards Bumblebee's face. F-16 Falcon cackles as he pounds Hoist with laser fire. "You're too slow, Autobot," he says with a wingtilt, "almost not worth the energon!" With this, he transforms again and hover just above Hoist, scanning, continuing to cooperate with Weirdwolf as is befitting his function as a combat analyst. He spares a brief look over to Soundwave dealing with two bots at once. Weirdwolf yelps sharply as he's decked in the helm, stumbling backwards. He charges forth with a warcry and swings his flaming sword in a diagonal motion across Hoist's front again, checking his HUD for Artifice's info. "Die Autobot!! You have no chance!" Bumblebee slips out of the way again by ducking under the fist. This is easy for him since he only comes up to Soundwave's knee. Once inside Soundwave's reach, he throws his shoulder against that very knee and tries to bring Soundwave down on his big ol' uncrasimatic face. "Hup! Look out below!" Jazz focuses on the Soundwave/Bumbleblee Duo for a sec and lines up a shot on the Decepticon. Many people would be afraid of taking such a shot but from a former Olympic champion? Easy enough. "Keep it up Bee...keep your head down." He squeezes the trigger and fires off another shot. Hoist knows he's in real trouble now as Weirdwolf presses the attack on his already highly damaged chest, the diagonal slash bites deeply tearing the roof section away. Being a medic Hoist can hazard a reasonable guess as to which internal lines have just been severed, his left arm might be parlysed at the elbow but can move at the shoulder as he tries to shield his test, "Maybe but you never know until you try!" He swings at Weirdwolf with his foot trying to get himself some breathing space, <> Bumblebee manages to strikes Soundwave's knee, forcing him to drop on his knee. The tape commande is now face to face ith the annoying minibot. There's not much he can do. He's too close to fire another missile so he's only option is to PUNCH BEE IN THE FACE! Then Jazz shoots him back but the attack only leave a small wound on his already damaged back. Weirdwolf gets a nice splatter of energon on him, barely evades the kick, and allows Hoist to step away, smirking. <> Drawing his photon pistol, he aims it pointblank at Hoist's visor and fires off a searing beam of heated light. Artifice breaks away to see if Soundwave needs any help...though he seriously doubts anything he could do would be more than anything Sounders can. "Sure thing. You've got this, Weirdwolf," he says as he heads off in the opposite direction, "I'll see to Jazz." Bumblebee takes advantage of Soundwave being down momentarily to grab his hand and vault over it, transforming in midair. Wheels spinning even before he hits the ground, Bumblebee lays rubber in the direction of the hidden outpost made visible by the earlier wayward missile, to go take some photos and get the heck out of there! "Hang in there, guys! I'm going to get some snaps!" Jazz smiles as Bumblebee moves away form Soundwave. Now the spy won't feel too bad about what's coming. He reaches into his hip-compartment. Like a Bat-Utility belt that's always on! Jazz produces a small cyclinder, he flicks the cover off and throws it at Soundwave. "Here's my newest hit. Hope you like it!" With Weirdwolf pressing the attack being aided by his flying friends Hoist may not be around much longer, but then the wolfcon decides to shoo his buddy away whilst drawing on him. Without hesitation Hoist rushes forwards and past Weirdwolf, with little cover to work with on the plains Hoist does a little patch job on the run. Soundwave turns around to chase Bumblebee, but before he can fire at him, he's blasted off his feet by an explosion...which allows the minibot to roll out of range. Rolling over to his side, Soundwave quickly spots Jazz and retaliate with one of his missile. Weirdwolf watches Hoist's run-and-patch, screwing up the 'cons handiwork. And work it was! Weirdwolf is running on vapors now, and half-heartedly follows, brandishing his sword not-so-threateningly. "Get back here!" He transforms mid-jog and leaps for Hoist's back again, hoping to shove him on the ground. Artifice misses yet again! Perhaps it wasn't the enerhol that had him reeling last time... That thought is not comforting. He makes a fist and pounds the air. "Something's got to slow that Autobot down!" Two panels open on his pecs, revealing racks of small rockets'; Artifice activates his rarely-seen 'breast rockets', standard issue on most Seeker frames. Jazz avoids Artifice's breast rockets but gets clocked by Soundwave's missile. He shakes it off "We have what we cam for anyway. Autobots! We are pulling out." He transforms into his car mode and flees the scene. Hoist was starting to see the end of the tunnel, dodging away from Weirdwolf and actually getting to fix himself up a bit but it all comes crashing down, as he does, impacting with the ground everything goes dark and then light again as he lifts his head. "Down boy! Naughty doggy, no treats for you!" Hearing Jazz decide to call it a day, Hoist struggles out from under Weirdwolf and transforms, driving away at a reasonable if shakey pace after the top spy.